Samatha - meditating on a body part

betaboy

Namaste,

If I sit in my chair and my feet touch the ground, I am going to 'feel' them. So do I meditate on this sensation (that of feet touching the ground)- is this what Samatha meditation is all about - focusing on one one sensation (created by a certain body part) to the exclusion of all others?

BB

newtech

Hello Betaboy:

Is a sensation on the feets a good object of meditation?. In my opinion, no.
Why?: Because there many other objects with much more wholesome attributes.

Is that what samatha meditation its all about, should i focus to the exclusion of everything else?. That is a large debate...its better if you look old topics.

Much metta.

upekka

Namaste,

If I sit in my chair and my feet touch the ground, I am going to 'feel' them. So do I meditate on this sensation (that of feet touching the ground)

instead of 'i am going to feel' see that there is 'feeling'
you do not have to add 'I am' to the 'feel'

see whether the feeling is pleasurable or unpleasurable or neither-pleasurable-nor-unpleasurable (dukka)
see whether the feeling stays without changing (impermanent)
see whether there is 'a thing that can be said as feeling' (non-self)

feet and ground are 'forms'
when feet touch the ground there is a feeling because the 'body consciousness' arises
so the 'feeling' (passa)arises

you sit on a chair but you do not feel that because your 'body consciousness' arise at feet not at 'where your body touch the chair'

you say 'feet' and 'ground'
feet, ground, chair etc are perception

what you thinking about them are 'volition'

now you contemplate about five aggregates

you can do this analysis for your other sense doors too

- is this what Samatha meditation is all about - focusing on one one sensation (created by a certain body part) to the exclusion of all others?

No, this is insight (vipassana) meditation

abhishek_laser

as upekka has mentioned this is vipassana meditation. The Budhha's recommendation on how to practice samatha is through anapanasati(as explained in the satipathana sutta) and i would recommend you to stick to that sort of meditation technique if you want to practice samatha.

jll

Vipassana means insight or wisdom.
Only in the burmese tradition, the
sweeping technique is called 'vipassana'
Buddha practised jhana and gained insight.
as ajahn chah said, samadi and vipassana is inseparable.
ajahn brahm & ayya khema said insight is quite impossible
without jhanas.
a method is just a method, by any name.

as upekka has mentioned this is vipassana meditation. The Budhha's recommendation on how to practice samatha is through anapanasati(as explained in the satipathana sutta) and i would recommend you to stick to that sort of meditation technique if you want to practice samatha.